Instrumentation and Control

Student Notes

Note
This document contains the important points discussed in the pre-recorded courseware. It will help in revising the
important concepts related to Instrumentation and Control course.

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 Instrumentation and Control

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MODULE 1-INTRODUCTION TO PROCESS CONTROL

This module presents an introduction to process-control concepts and the elements
of a process-control system.
Focus Topics
 Course Introduction : Instrumentation & Control
 Introduction to Process Control

Key Points
 Professor - Prof. Swapna Kulkarni
 Course Title-Instrumentation &Control
 Course code-ETZC344
 Text books
 Johnson, Curtis D., Process Control Instrumentation Technology, Prentice
– Hall of India, 8th Ed., 2006
 Reference books
 S K Singh, Industrial Instrumentation and Control, TMH, 3rd Edition, 2009.
 Bolton, W. “Industrial Control & Instrumentation,” Orient Longman, 1993
 R. P Jain, Modern Digital Electronics, TMH,3rd Edition
1. Introduction to the course
 Process- Any system composed of dynamic variables, usually involved in
manufacturing & production operations.
 Control- The methods/techniques to force parameters or variables in the
environment/ process to have specific values
 Process Control- It deals with the elements and methods of control system
operation used in industry to control industrial processes.
2. Control Types
 Human Aided Control system- A person is made to regulate and control a
certain process, but is associated with human errors.
 Automatic control - An automatic control system replaces the human with
a controller which may be an electronic device such as sensor, controller,
actuator, valve etc.
 Servomechanism - Servomechanism type control systems are used to
move a robot arm between two points in a controlled fashion.
 Discrete State Control Systems - A type of control system concerned with
controlling a sequence of events rather than regulation or variation of
individual variables, thus saving time.

3. Block Diagram of Process Control

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 Different elements of the block diagram are measurement, process, error

detector, controller, and control element which are connected to provide the
required regulation.

4. Control System Evaluation

 The variable used to measure the performance of the control system is the
error, e(t), which is the difference between the constant set point or
reference value, r, and the controlled variable, c(t).
e(t) = r − c(t)
 Control System Objective
o Stability-The control system must be designed and adjusted so that the
system is stable.

o Steady-state regulation- The objective of the best possible steady-

state regulation simply means that the steady state error should be a
minimum.
o Transient regulation- Transient regulation specifies how the control
system reacts to certain transient event

5. Evaluation Criteria

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o Tuning- The term tuning is used to indicate how a process-control loop is

adjusted to provide the best control. The nature of the response is modified by
adjusting the control loop parameters which is called tuning.
o Minimum Area Tuning- The tuning is adjusted until the net area under the
error-time curve is a minimum, for the same degree of excitation.

A = ∫ ⃓e(t)⃓dt = minimum

o Quarter Amplitude Tuning- The quarter-amplitude criterion specifies that the

amplitude of each peak of the cyclic response be a quarter of the preceding
peak.

6. Analog and Digital Processing

o Data Representation
o Data represented by the magnitude of voltages and currents is referred to as
analog processing.
o Representation of data as binary numbers consisting of a specific number of
bits is referred to as digital processing.

o Data Conversions -Special devices are employed to convert analog voltages

into a digital representation. These are called analog-to-digital converters
(ADCs).

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o Digital-to-analog converters (DACs) convert a digital signal into an analog

voltage.
 On-off control- The final control element has only two states, on and
off. Figure 13 shows an elementary ON/OFF control system whose
objective is to maintain the temperature in a system at some reference
value, Tref.

 Digital Control- True digital control involves the use of a computer in

modern applications.
o Supervisory Control- The computer monitors measurements and updates set
points, but the loops are still analog in nature.

o Direct Digital Control (DDC) - This direct digital control system lets the
computer perform the error detection and controller functions.
o Smart Sensor - It includes the integration of a microprocessor-based
controller computer directly into the sensor assembly.
Networked Control Systems- In order to have coordinated control of the
whole plant, all DDC units are placed on a local area network (LAN).

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7. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)-A PLC is an outgrowth of ON/OFF type

control environments. In this case the heater and cooler are either On or OFF.

8. Units and Standards-Ensure precise technical communication among individuals

employed in technological disciplines.
 Base units and Derived units
 Analog Data Representation-Two analog standards are in common use as a
means of representing the range of variables in control systems
o For electrical systems, we use a range of electric current
o For pneumatic systems, we use a range of gas pressure

9. Definitions
 Error -Difference between the measured value of the variable and the desired
value—that is, the reference or setpoint value.
 Block definitions- Terms and expressions used to describe the characteristics
of a block.
 Transfer Function The transfer function describes the relationship between the
input and output for the block.
o The static transfer function describes the input/output relationship when
the input is not changing in time.
o The dynamic transfer function describes the input/output relationship
when there is time variation of the input.
 Accuracy -This term is used to specify the maximum overall error to be
expected from a device, such as measurement of a variable.
 Sensitivity -Sensitivity is a measure of the change in output of an instrument for
a change in input.
 Hysteresis and Reproducibility-Hysteresis can be different results for a
specific input, depending on whether the input value is approached from higher

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or lower values. And reproducability is the degree of closeness with which a

given value may be repeatedly measured.
 Resolution – Is a minimum measurable value of the input variable
 Linearity- is a measure of non-linearity of a system.
10. Process -Control Drawings-P&ID drawings and symbols are the typical
representation used to display process control systems
 P & ID Signal and process lines

 Symbols used in P & ID

 Actuators and Process Elements

11. Sensor Time response- Dynamic transfer function, which is independent from the
static transfer function called the time response
 First Order Response
𝒕
𝒃(𝒕) = 𝒃𝒊 + (𝒃𝒇 − 𝒃𝒊) [𝟏 − 𝒆−𝝉 ]

Where; bi = initial sensor output from static transfer function and initial input
bf = final sensor output from static transfer function and final input
Ʈ = sensor time constant
 Second Order Response- The time behavior is described by a second-order
differential equation. The general behavior can be described by
𝑅(𝑡)𝛼 𝑅𝑜 𝑒 −𝑎𝑡 sin(2𝜋𝑓𝑛𝑡)

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Where; R(t)= transducer output

a = output damping constant
fn = natural frequency of oscillations
Ro = amplitude

12. Significant Figures- The significant figures are three digits (places) actually read
or known from a measurement or calculation.
 Significance in Measurement -When using a measuring instrument, the
number of significant figures is indicated either by readability, in the case of
analog instruments, or by the number of digits, in a digital instrument.
 Significance in Calculations- In calculations, one must be careful not to obtain
a result that has more significance than the numbers employed in the
calculation.
 Significance in Measurement -A design is a hypothetical development that
makes implicit assumptions about selected values in the design.
13. Statistics-Statistics can help interpret the validity of measurements through the
use of the arithmetic mean and the standard deviation
 Arithmetic Mean- If many measurements of a particular variable are taken, the
arithmetic mean is calculated to obtain an average value of the variable. The
arithmetic mean of a set of n values, given by x1 ,x2,……., xn is defined by the
equation

Or

 Standard Deviation- A measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean.
The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. Standard deviation is
calculated as the square root of variance.

Or

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 Sample standard Deviation

 Population Standard Deviation

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